The Problem with Aamir Khan’s ‘Satyamev Jayate’

A one-hour slot on Star News was allotted to the show’s “success” after the very first episode. This leads the audience to believe that Mr. Khan is achieving results but our nation’s policy is achieving nothing.

The purpose of Satyamev Jayate seems to be educating people about issues and creating discussions around them. Every episode of the television series, presented by actor Aamir Khan, emerges with an alluring and apparently easy fix for the week’s troubling topic. The structure of the show of course allows for a heart wrenching conclusion and a song as well. But beyond the tears, what are the broader implications of these suggested “solutions?”

A recent tweet about Satyamev Jayate by one of India’s top news anchors, Sagarika Ghose, managed to depress me, in 140 characters: “My daughter and her friends asked if they could vote for Aamir Khan for prime minister…” This underlines the ability of the show to mislead people into believing two large claims: One, that governance and policy making is easy; two, that anyone who shows up on TV and charms you with his perfect intonation and apparent compassion can be part of the elected servants of the country. Admittedly, this is based on one tweet a mother made about her child, yet it is something worrisome if we as a nation want Mr. Khan to be our Prime Minister. He would undoubtedly be the most attractive face we’d ever see at 7 Race Course Road, but little else.

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We cannot vote for a prime minister, anyway. But apart from that, governing a polity like India, which has over 20 languages, 28 states and seven union territories, multiple religions and different civil codes for religious groups, is extremely difficult. While lending his voice and fame to such causes is admirable, Mr. Khan is also responsible for allowing people to believe that there are simplistic solutions to some of the gravest problems that plague modern India. I, for one, find it more alarming that one is able to buy a morphine compound drug over the counter with no prescription than the fact that there are fewer generic drugs out there that may or may not be quality controlled.

We obviously can’t expect a TV show to solve the nation’s problems. “Satyamev Jayate” means “truth alone prevails,” which suggests balanced, responsible information. When disseminating information into the Indian populace, choosing your words is essential because people tend to believe. On Friday night, a one-hour slot on Star News was allotted to the show’s “success” after the very first episode. This leads the audience to believe that Mr. Khan is achieving results but our nation’s policy is achieving nothing. Our politicians do not and cannot pick one issue for a week and then let it go. We need sustained efforts around our evils. India is, for example, combating illiteracy and minority issues constantly, and it took a long time to put in place the quota system and the RTE (Right to Education) Act, neither of which are perfect. Leading people to believe that solutions are simple seems manipulative and rather disruptive. Furthermore, the parliamentary system requires consensus and there is a method via which laws are made.

The June 24 episode of Satyamev Jayate discussed the idea of toxic food. While we might be consuming food that has a larger than permissible amount of pesticides, we are also way behind in terms of the quantity of food our country should be producing. India is far from self-sustainable in terms of food supply. We require higher yield products, as well as improved basic farming requirements like water and power. This episode also suggested farmer suicides take place because of an inability to pay back interest on loans. But without a bumper crop to sell, how would you ever pay back any interest?

Mr. Sainik, a farm owner in Samod, voiced his concerns about crops being destroyed without the use of pesticides. In addition to crops, he says that before building “any structure, we need to spray the ground, inject the soil and then first coat the cement with pesticides that will prevent white ants from destroying the paint, and foundation. Without pesticides we have no hope of seeing any harvest.”

It is easy for Mr. Khan to show up on primetime radio and suggest that the government can reallocate 800 billion rupees ($14.5 billion) to enable organic farming. But reallocation of capital within government departments isn’t that straightforward, and without appropriate monitoring will only pile up within the walls of departments.

In Mr. Khan’s words, this show “cannot be the change.” But it also shouldn’t mimic that change. Policy decisions require thoroughly actionable and long-term solutions with clear implementation plans across the nation, not just in one village in one state.

India sometimes displays anarchic tendencies, and there is a need to subscribe to our democracy and its covenants. This can only happen with a realistic distribution of information in the hands of the people.

Isheta Salgaocar is a freelance journalist. After graduating from Stanford University, California, with degrees in Political Science and English, she worked at management consulting firm Bain & Co. She now lives between Mumbai and Goa, and is working on a collection of short stories.

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